Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25952744›Full record

ArticleMedical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making2015

Economic Evaluation of Pediatric Telemedicine Consultations to Rural Emergency Departments.

Nikki H Yang, Madan Dharmar, Byung-Kwang Yoo, J Paul Leigh, Nathan Kuppermann, Patrick S Romano, Thomas S Nesbitt, James P Marcin

Open access · greenAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.3field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. A Systematic Review of the Economic Evaluation of Telemedicine in Japan.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2016
    Pooled it
  5. Coordinating care across hospitals: how integration shapes patient mobility.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Pandemic Action Plan Policy and Regulatory Summary Telehealth Policy and Regulatory Considerations During a Pandemic.Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association · 2022
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Telehealth in emergency medicine: A consensus conference to map the intersection of telehealth and emergency medicine.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2021
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Travel Avoidance Using Telepediatric by Patients and Healthcare Providers: a Review of the Literature.Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH · 2020
    Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Nikki H YangDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (NHY, MD, NK, PSR, JPM)
Madan DharmarDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (NHY, MD, NK, PSR, JPM)
Byung-Kwang YooDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (BKY, JPL)
J Paul LeighDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (BKY, JPL)
Nathan KuppermannDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (NHY, MD, NK, PSR, JPM)
Patrick S RomanoDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (NHY, MD, NK, PSR, JPM)
Thomas S NesbittDepartment of Family Practice and Community Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (TSN)
James P MarcinDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (NHY, MD, NK, PSR, JPM)
University of California, Davis · US

Funding

Factors Associated with Quality of Care Delivered to Children in US EDsR01HS019712 · AHRQ · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · PI MARCIN, JAMES P · 2010 to 2012
$1.5M
Telemedicine for Children in Rural Emergency DepartmentsK08HS013179 · AHRQ · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS · PI MARCIN, JAMES P · 2002 to 2006
$122k
AHRQ HHS K08 HS013179AHRQ HHS R01 HS019712
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundComprehensive economic evaluations have not been conducted on telemedicine consultations to children in rural emergency departments (EDs).

objectiveWe conducted an economic evaluation to estimate the cost, effectiveness, and return on investment (ROI) of telemedicine consultations provided to health care providers of acutely ill and injured children in rural EDs compared with telephone consultations from a health care payer prospective.

methodsWe built a decision model with parameters from primary programmatic data, national data, and the literature. We performed a base-case cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), a probabilistic CEA with Monte Carlo simulation, and ROI estimation when CEA suggested cost-saving. The CEA was based on program effectiveness, derived from transfer decisions following telemedicine and telephone consultations.

resultsThe average cost for a telemedicine consultation was $3641 per child/ED/year in 2013 US dollars. Telemedicine consultations resulted in 31% fewer patient transfers compared with telephone consultations and a cost reduction of $4662 per child/ED/year. Our probabilistic CEA demonstrated telemedicine consultations were less costly than telephone consultations in 57% of simulation iterations. The ROI was calculated to be 1.28 ($4662/$3641) from the base-case analysis and estimated to be 1.96 from the probabilistic analysis, suggesting a $1.96 return for each dollar invested in telemedicine. Treating 10 acutely ill and injured children at each rural ED with telemedicine resulted in an annual cost-savings of $46,620 per ED. LIMITATIONS: Telephone and telemedicine consultations were not randomly assigned, potentially resulting in biased results.

conclusionsFrom a health care payer perspective, telemedicine consultations to health care providers of acutely ill and injured children presenting to rural EDs are cost-saving (base-case and more than half of Monte Carlo simulation iterations) or cost-effective compared with telephone consultations.

Indexed as

Acute DiseaseChildCost-Benefit AnalysisDecision Support TechniquesEmergency Service, HospitalHealth Care CostsHumansMonte Carlo MethodPediatricsRemote ConsultationRural Health ServicesTelephoneWounds and Injuriescost-effectivenesseconomic evaluationemergency medicinepediatricsrural healthtelemedicine

Identifiers

PMID25952744
PMCPMC9727838
OpenAlexW2099557025

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.